GOP seizes Obama 'optimal' moment

Republicans on Friday pounced on President Barack Obama for saying that the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi were not “optimal” -the latest instance of a candidate’s choice of words becoming an issue in the race - while Paul Ryan used the opportunity to rip the administration’s handling of the attack, saying “their story continues to shift.”

“Even from someone like the president, who has never known what these kinds of tragedies are about and the service and sacrifice that people make, it’s still just — I can’t even get angry,” Sen. John McCain, the ranking member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Thursday night on Fox News’s “On the Record with Greta Van Susteren.”

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“It’s just so inappropriate,” McCain continued. “And I’m sure that the families of those brave Americans are not amused.”

In an appearance on Fox News’s “Fox and Friends” on Friday, McCain added that Obama’s use of the word “optimal” was “very regrettable and makes me a little sad.”

McCain’s comments came after Obama, who appeared on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” on Thursday, was asked by Stewart about the administration’s handling of the attack on the U.S. diplomatic facility in Benghazi that left U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans dead. Stewart said to Obama that in the aftermath, “even you would admit, it was not the optimal response, at least to the American people, as far as all of us being on the same page.”

“Here’s what I’ll say. If four Americans get killed, that’s not optimal,” Obama responded. “We’re going to fix it. All of it.”

The instant outrage from conservatives was the latest moment of rapid response in a campaign characterized by both sides turning off-hand comments into major messaging opportunities. Obama’s “optimal” remark came after Democrats had a field day this week with Romney’s “binders full of women” comment, made at the second debate, as they tried to shred the Republican nominee’s standing with women voters.

Now, Obama’s “optimal” opening for the GOP comes just ahead of the third and final debate in Boca Raton, Fla., on Monday - where the focus is entirely on foreign affairs and where Obama’s handling of the attack in Libya is sure to be a major topic.

Ryan told Charlie Sykes, a Wisconsin-based conservative radio host, he read the transcript of Obama’s “Daily Show” appearance, and argued that the crisis in Benghazi is emblematic of broader problems with the Obama administration’s foreign policy, according to audio of the interview posted at Time.com.